


The Stolen Throne: Araza

by skys



Category: The Stolen Throne - Fandom
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-31
Updated: 2014-08-31
Packaged: 2018-02-15 14:24:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2232318
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skys/pseuds/skys
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A young dragon is born into a kingdom ruled by a cruel and evil queen. In his last push for hope, he and his good friend escape to a far off land full of danger and adventure. On the way they meet new and terrifying obstacles, and come to discover their darkest and most deadly secrets. Their path will lead over mountains and under caves. They will hunt, and be hunted. But, throughout all of this, will they both be able to survive, and save their world from a dim future? Or will they perish along with the countless others, and never be able to reclaim the stolen throne?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first work, and was also written a very long time ago! If there are any spelling mistakes, don't hold it against me. I haven't edited it or even read it in months, so the writing itself might not be exceptional. I just didn't want to rewrite the prologue or chapter one again.

The dark clouds moved overhead, shielding the sun from shining its beautiful rays on the grey planet below. There was little movement on the ground; creatures of all sizes seemed to be hidden away in their home. Well, all except for one; a large, shadowy being hurried through a long hallway inside a gigantic castle. This castle was, I do not stutter, the grandest building in all the land. Its interior was decorated with silky curtains, and deep red rugs lined the flooring. The stone walls were hidden by fabulous paintings, and the doors were made of the finest wood in all the forests. There was no hiding it: whoever lived inside such a grand home must be either wealthy, or quite important.

The shadowed creature scurried round a corner, barely skidding on the carpeted floor as its talon-like nails scraped the stone ground. But it didn't stop to worry about messing up the rug. It continued onward with a quickening pace, its legs pumping it over the floor as gracefully as if it were flying. Yet, there was something ominous about the creature. It wasn't exactly “beautiful”, though as I stated before, it was quite graceful. Its scaled skin was a dark, tan color, and its beady eyes were pale blue. As it dashed past a giant window that reached all the way up to the ceiling, it revealed elegant wings that jutted out from its back quite awkwardly as it scurried down the lengthened room. Panting, the creature finally began to slow down, though its pace was still hurried. It had seemed to stop at the end of the hall. At the finishing point of its travels, there was a gigantic door that loomed over the creature like a mountain. The door was wooden, yes, but it wasn't like any of the other doors in the castle. Its knob was silver, and its shape was not of a simple sphere. It seemed to be of a monstrous, roaring beast.

The beige-colored dragon came to a halt in front of the door. It seemed to hesitate a bit, as if it were thinking about turning back, but it made a final decision. It began to move its limbs slowly, unlike the last time when it had been hurrying through the hall. No, this time it was wary of its movements, making sure that it was perfectly safe as it pushed its way into the massive room.

Oh yes, what a room it was. It seemed to be a bedroom, but instead of actually having a bed, it stored a large cushion-like thing, which was much like an over sized dog’s bed, if I do say so myself. But instead of a dog on the pillow, there was yet another dragon. This dragon was much larger than the beige one that had just entered its room. In fact, it was so large; it was almost too big for the giant dog-bed. Its wings were folded neatly beside its body, and its legs were tucked under its scaly belly. A large, very elegant snout protruded from its face. If they beige dragon hadn't been in such a hurry, it would have placed a large bet on the fact that inside that mouth, there was probably a copious amount of dagger-sized teeth. The tanned lizard stopped for a second as it entered the bedroom. This site was much to behold. Such a beast lying on a monster-sized pillow was simply so much to take in! The giant dragon, of which was colored brightly with a red pattern, gazed at the much smaller, tan dragon through dark blue eyes. The beige creature stumbled over its thoughts, trying desperately to come up with something to say to this magnificent beast in front of it, but nothing seemed to come to its mind. Thankfully, the blood-red being seemed to sense its disability to speak and opened its wide mouth to talk, its voice coming out smoothly and confidently, as if it were a line practiced in a play many times before.

“What is it, General?”

‘General?’ thought the puny dragon, ‘Oh yes! That is my title! I’m General!’

“M-Ma’am – I mean your magnificent majesty – there’s been a slight problem…” the General shuddered in her scales as her Queen slowly stretched only a single wing. This wing was so large it could have simply batted the General once and the poor dragon would have been knocked onto her side.

“And what is this ‘slight problem’?” the Queen muttered. She folded her wing back to its rightful place beside her, and comfortably yawned, patiently waiting for the General to respond.

“The – the problem – yes, well t-the problem is… well – I mean, it’s all very complicated, and there’s just, I mean, a lot to explain, but… I… I mean…the problem is…” the General was so flustered she hardly managed to crouch back in surprise when the Queen hissed angrily.

“Just spit it out,” the Queen growled. A deep fire seemed to have lit in the eyes of the blood-red dragon, and her majesty was suddenly glaring with a deep passion at the General. The Queen added on to her words, this time her voice being smooth as a snake, “Or I’ll make you,”

The General crouched in submission, looking down at the grey floor before continuing, “The problem, your majesty… is…” she hastily closed her eyes, readying herself for the Queen’s explosion of fury, “there has been a breakout,”


	2. Minors and Men

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something is brewing in the castle's mines, and two friends meet for the very first time.

4 Years Earlier 

Eckie awoke abruptly, his eyes snapping open. A loud clanging noise had awoken him from his peaceful slumber, and he wasn't too happy about it. Eckie yawned angrily, puffing out his chest as he arose from his sleeping corner. Yes, corner. Eckie, unlike the rich and quite important Queen, slept upon the floor. And it wasn't just any old stone floor. It was a coal mine floor, because that was where Eckie lived. Eckie lived in a coal mine, along with just about every other male dragon. Even a couple of humans lived underneath the ground, but most of them were used as foot-soldiers for the queen's bidding. Though he didn't know why, he had accepted that this was his place of inhabitants a few years after his birth. Yet sometimes he caught his eyes wandering to the exit of the giant mine. Oh, how he wanted to be free. The dark and very bland coal mine got tiring after a while, especially if you haven't seen anything else but it in your entire life. Eckie shook his head. His mind was creating fantasies again in his head. 

'Hah,' he thought, frowning, 'As if I'll ever leave this stupid mine,'

Suddenly the clanging noise that had woke him up echoed through the little room again. He snapped himself out of the conversation he had been having with himself and began to stride forwards. He had nothing better to do, anyway, so why not investigate the noise? Eckie slowly trotted his way through a large gap in the rock wall around him. 

He was met by a sight that was oh-so-familiar to him. A gigantic whole in the Earth with a huge stone roof over it. The roof was supported by giant, strong, wooden pillars, and surrounding each pillar were four buildings. In total there were four pillars, meaning there were sixteen buildings. These places were called 'Regeneration Regions', or for short RRs'. At the RR places there were always at least four dragons on duty. Basically if you were hurt, hungry, tired, thirsty, or something on those lines, the RR dragons could help you out. They supplied a hefty amount of almost-rotten meat, murky water, and designated sleeping rocks where you could take a nap. Personally, Eckie couldn't stand the RR stations. Thus why he avoided them completely. With a little help from some of his friends, he had managed to mine out a little section of rock where he and two other dragons could sleep. And food? That was an easily solved riddle. The rats that ran through the coal mines were giant, and made for a good meal. Though after a while they began to taste quite bland, and they always reeked of rotten meat, they repaid him with food for him to survive on.

Water was a whole different situation, though.

Because there was so little water in the coal mines, Eckie sometimes found himself going for days without the substance. During times like these, Eckie had to stay clear of the Queen's guards. There were always at least twenty on duty at a time, covering the coal mine with a deadly speed with their wings. Eckie sometimes wondered what it would be like to fly. After all, he had been one of the many dragons born without wings. It was considered lucky if you had wings at all. Eckie sighed tiredly. The reason he had to 'stay clear of the guards' at all was simple. If they even caught a glimpse of him off duty, or not mining in other words, they'd have his scaly skin for it. Though, then again, Eckie was quick. With no wings he had an advantage with speed, and could easily slip through cracks or holes without much of a fuss.

The noise, once again, broke Eckie out of his thoughts. He looked up in surprise, his eyes shimmering with curiosity. The mine below him was hollow and reeked of wet soil and hot metals. Eckie surveyed the corners of the cave, eyes narrowed.

He spotted the source of the noise near the closest RR station. A large, bulky looking human (who didn’t look so intimidating from farther away) was bashing away at a ginormous rock. A couple of other smaller, and much more weaker looking dragons were gathering around, watching the man pound the stone into oblivion. Eckie even noticed a black, winged dragon watching the display. Clearly the creature was a guard or a soldier. The Queen never allowed winged dragons to be sent away to the coal mines. It was too much of a waste of fine blood.

Eckie watched, fascinated, as the black guard crossed over to a few other dragons lazily sitting back against the tent of an RR station. Normally, had the black beast been a soldier or a guard, those two laid-back miners would be pulp by now for slacking off. But the winged, coal-coloured guard didn’t seem to care. In fact, it actually joined the two miners, taking a seat in front of them and watching the crowd gather in awe over the large dragon in the centre.

Eckie decided this was worth his time to investigate. Not that he had anything better to do other than that, but he convinced himself otherwise as he made his way down to the chamber below. As he made his final jump down onto the coal mine’s bottom layer, he noted how quickly he regained his balance from the tumble. His claws scraped the floor and gripped the hard, unpolished surface tightly. Clearly they were growing back after having spent many of his years mining with them. His head snapped up as yet another scrape echoed through the tavern. He began trotting towards the bustle of dragons, which were all at least a meter taller than himself. His eyes were dark as they traveled towards the tent housing the two lazy miners and the black guard. And there they were. The guard was talking brightly to the other two older dragons, expanding its in enthusiasm. The miners seemed to enjoy its company – in fact; they were even smiling a long with the guard’s stories. Eckie flicked his tongue over his teeth, wondering if for some strange reason the two miners were being forced to pretend to like this guard’s presence. Surely no slave would enjoy speaking with its master?

Eckie dropped his head and shuffled towards the three dragons, eyes glimmering in the little light provided by the street candles. The street candles were lit up high above the bustle of dragons, hidden on top of posts. There they provided what small help they could to the nearly blind miners below. Though Eckie liked being able to see, he had made it a habit of his to attempt to blow out every one of them he saw. But since there was a guard nearby, he refused to make a scene and kept himself ducked beside the bodies of countless miners.

When Eckie was close enough to hear the three dragon’s conversations, he paused in his steps. He strained his head forwards and unsheathed his claws into the dirty ground below, preparing to hear the worst of insults directed at the miners.

“I know what you mean,” the black guard said tiredly. Eckie blinked, watching him carefully. His eyes were a brilliant yellow color, and his scales were dirty from coal and dust. He didn’t look much like a guard at all, “But… I just…”

“What?” one of the miners pondered, “What is it, Vyvo?”

Vyvo – that must’ve been the guard’s name. Eckie watched Vyvo cringe, sending a silent glance around him. For a moment Eckie thought Vyvo had seen him, but the black dragon went back to the conversation slowly.

“I kinda’ wanna’ escape,” Vyvo muttered dryly. The two miners blinked, eyes suddenly fogged with worry. Eckie felt a burst of confusion. Vyvo was a guard! He lived a carefree life ordering miners around! He didn’t have to worry about being beaten for not working, or hiding in little caves to escape the slavery. Eckie held back from snarling at Vyvo, biting his tongue to keep himself from his outburst.

“Don’t we all, lad,” the older miner said. His scales were rough – some of them were even broken. His eyes were a deep sea-green color, and his hide seemed to be the remains of what used to be a beautiful, bright green coat. Almost like Eckie’s. Eckie’s scales were a light, pale green, and his eyes were the strongest of greens. He bore a dusty layer over him, though, as well. But he was surprised to admit that Vyvo himself wore a dirtier cloak than even him. Eckie’s thoughts were interrupted when the older miner continued, “But, as one of the reckless ones in our party, you’re quite familiar with the dangers of even attempting an escape plan,”

‘Party? Reckless?’ Eckie thought to himself, ‘Was Vyvo in cahoots with these miners?’

“I know!” Vyvo said quickly, “I’ve tested the guard’s strength many more times than I care to admit myself, but I promise you I won’t go doing anything idiotic. You know I’m not like that,”

“Well,” the other miner pestered. This one was a dusty brown color. His eyes were a faded pink, but they still shone with hope, “I’ve seen how to tease and push the guard’s limits at times. You almost got yourself beaten once, remember that?”

“Hey,” Vyvo persisted, “That wasn’t too bad. They only bit me once,” Vyvo gestured down to his leg. Eckie’s gaze followed the black dragon’s, and the young miner was surprised to see the large scar criss-crossed over Vyvo’s right leg. The injury seemed to be healed, but there was still traces of bruises where the guards might’ve hit him once or twice. Eckie winced. That must’ve hurt more than he could imagine.

“Only bit you once?” the older miner protested, “You were gasping for breath by the time they were done with you. You couldn’t even walk! And, you know, we couldn’t do anything. If we had, we’d have gotten hurt too, so we just had to sit there and watch you sleep there in the dirt the rest of the night whilst a guard watched over you. It was terrible!” the green dragon whined. Eckie couldn’t help but feel a bit bad for Vyvo and his friends. Whether or not Vyvo was even a guard at this point didn’t matter. He had gone through what a miner had to fear every day. He had been bitten, beaten, scratched, and torn at. Eckie’s eyes flicked to Vyvo’s face, which was broken with a sad look.

“I… there’s not need to remind me, Uvimere,” Vyvo muttered, “I’ve got the scars to prove it…”

The green dragon, who was apparently called Uvimere, paused for a moment, as if he was about to continue. But the look on young Vyvo’s face was enough for all three of them to go silent. Eckie waited for them to continue, but they didn’t seem to show any sign of it.

Finally Eckie did the first stupid thing of the day. He trotted towards the three dragons without warning, and took a seat on the other side of Uvimere, and beside Vyvo.

Vyvo glanced awkwardly towards Uvimere and the other brown dragon, but both of them didn’t seem to know what to do about this stranger. Eckie came to his senses and realized what he had done. He tried flashing a toothy smile, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. The seriousness of the conversation beforehand was much too important for him to joke about.

“Hi,” Eckie began. Vyvo seemed to loosen at his greeting, but both Uvimere and the brown dragon seemed cautious of his sudden appearance, “My name is… Eckie…”

Vyvo blinked, a friendly look on his face. Eckie was surprised to see that Vyvo could welcome him so warmly after he had interrupted their very keen conversation.

“My name’s Vyvo,” Vyvo scratched the dirt beneath him with a little swipe of his claw, “And this is Uvimere, and Kayo,” he motioned to his two friends.

“Uh…” Eckie wasn’t so sure how to go about introducing himself, “I… it’s nice to meet you…” Eckie tried.

Kayo didn’t seem interested.

“What’re you going on about bothering us for?” he said angrily, “We were talking before you showed,”

Eckie frowned, glancing from dragon to dragon. He didn't know the first thing about having a true conversation with someone! How could he ever imagine that he'd ever be able to befriend these angry miners?


End file.
